Roadtrip
by Dakota-Jones
Summary: For once, Chas is allowed to go with John somewhere. Problem? 'Going somewhere' involves a multiday roadtrip from LA to Chicago. Hijinks and emotional turmoil ensue.
1. Chapter 1

This is just a teaser, not a chapter, really. I just wanted to get this idea off the ground while it was fresh. I'll update Drive tonight, most likely- hard to find time when the parents are dragging me all over Chicago.

"You're taking me? _You're actually taking me somewhere?_"

The teen seemed so excited that John almost laughed. "Yeah, kid, I'm taking you with me. We're delivering a few relics to a friend of mine in Chicago."

"We flyin' there?"

John snorted. "Chas, if I could fly there, you wouldn't be going. You're only going because I can't take these things on a plane and I need a driver."

"We're _driving_ to Chicago from _here_?"

"…No, Chas. We're taking a boat."

Chas looked honestly skeptical. "No we're not."

John shook his head and put out his cigarette, amazed at the boy's blatant naivety. "We're borrowing Hennessey's car. I already told the cab company that your mother died and you'd need the week off."

"Smooth, John, real smooth. My mom is alive and well."

"They don't know that."

Chas's eyes were sparkling with child-like excitement. "When are we going?"

John sighed, and then glanced at his watch. "Fifteen minutes."

"Oh, shit, I've gotta pack!"

Chas practically fell on his face as he skidded out of John's apartment, yelling something about being back in ten. Chas didn't live far away, just 6 blocks or so, and John had only been to his apartment once- it was a one room dump with a mattress and a broken desk, with a community bathroom down the hall.

John felt sorry for the kid, really…but he couldn't exactly offer the kid a place to stay. He had no place for Chas to sleep- no couch, no space for an air mattress, nothing. And he sure as hell wasn't letting the teenager sleep in the same bed as him.

He wasn't sure he'd be able to control himself. Chas's skin was too perfect, his lips too pouty, his eyes too wide and dark-chocolate colored, and his hair far too touchable. John was always too tempted for comfort to get just a brief taste, tease and touch till Chas was begging…

Sick. It was sick. The boy was seventeen.

John scowled at his own damn weakness and it up another cigarette. _You need to get laid, that's all. Maybe in Chicago, where none of the local whores know you_.

True to his word, Chas barged in the door ten minutes later, a duffel bag in hand. It wasn't like he had much to pack- in fact, he probably had to keep it all packed up all the time to keep the roaches out of it.

"I'm ready, John! Let's go!" He said with a grin, and John nodded, taking a long drag off his cigarette.

"Alright, kid, alright. I'm comin'," he said dryly.

_John…what in the world have you gotten yourself into?_ He thought as Chas led him out the door like a hyper puppy.


	2. Chapter 2

"Chas-"

"You bastard! I'll eat your children!"

"Hey, now, that's-"

"And you know what else? I'll take that Mercedes and shove it right up your-"

John quickly silenced Chas by clamping a hand over the boy's mouth. Chas promptly licked John's hand, and John yanked his hand away with a grimace of disgust.

"What?" Chas snapped, glaring out the windshield at the guy who'd cut him off in a maneuver far too risky for such an expensive car.

"Chas, you're out of LA. People out here actually _care_ if you threaten to eat their children."

"We're still in California, John! I'm allowed to threaten!"

"Not when you're not in your taxi."

Chas muttered for a few moments, something about an old Volkswagen Beetle being close enough to a cab. Hennessey didn't use the old hunk of rust very often, so he wasn't too objective to the idea of John borrowing it- until he'd been told who'd be driving it. After that, it was an hour of arguing about Chas's ability to drive without swapping paint. Despite the fact that the car was an abused 1973 Beetle with 42, 000 miles on it (and an inch of rust covering the formerly red paint), Hennessey treated it like a child at times.

"M'hot, John. Can we turn on the air conditioning, just for a minute?"

"The car will overheat if you do that. Then you'll be _really_ hot."

"Why'd you have to borrow Hennessey's car, anyway? The guy down the street from you has a real sweet Jaguar, I could've hotwired that…"

"Because I need to go to prison for five years for auto theft."

"Hey, you only go to prison if you get _caught_."

John chuckled, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it as Chas passed five more people.

"How fast are you going, Chas?"

"Don't know. Speedometer's broke."

"…And it doesn't give you a hint that you're going too past when you're passing everyone like this?"

Chas glanced into another car as he passed it. "They're old. They can't be going the speed limit."

John took a drag off his cigarette, his mind already fried by the boy's logic and driving- and they'd only been in the car four hours.

It would take four _days_ to get to Chicago.

* * *

Chas glanced over at John, surprised to find that the man was finally asleep. They were just reaching the desert on the edge of California, almost to Nevada, and the sun was just beginning, leaving strange designs of pink and yellow over the normally brown mountains in front of them.

He kept his foot on the gas, glad that the traffic had finally let up and the cars were few and far between on the road they were taking. His gaze drifted to John again, and he stole glances between checking the road.

John's hair was tousled by the wind from the open window, a wind that was just beginning to cool down with the start of evening. The sun highlighted John's features, his pale skin given an unnatural glow and his five o'clock shadow more evident than usual.

_He's kinda…pretty._

Chas shook his head fervently, snapping out of it just in time to see that he was about to rear-end a car that'd pulled onto the interstate from a side road. He yelped out a few choice curse words and jerked the wheel, and the car skidded off onto the shoulder of the road and slid sideways to a stop.

That certainly woke John up.

Moments later John was yelling at him, a mix of 'you're fucking dead' and 'what the hell happened'. Chas sat there, shell-shocked, gripping to wheel with a white knuckled grip.

"John…John…_John_," Chas snapped, breathless and still holding tight to the wheel. "Calm down, would you? Gimme a second here…"

John muttered and cursed, and then got out of the car and slammed the door behind him, walking a few feet away and lighting up a cigarette. Chas took a few deep breaths, trying to coax his heart to stop pumping like a rabbit trapped in the jaws of a wolf.

_Right…note to self…never ever EVER look at John while driving._

He finally got out of the car and walked over to where John stood, smoking furiously away at a cigarette.

"John…John, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"Kid, if you were that tired, you should've told me _before_ you fell asleep at the wheel," John snapped harshly. Chas was about to object, but then he realized how convenient this was- if John thought he'd fallen asleep at the wheel, he wouldn't have to explain what he'd _really_ been doing.

"I didn't think I was _that_ tired…"

John took another drag off his cigarette, and then turned around. "Next exit that has a motel, we're stopping."

"A motel?"

John gave Chas an incredulous look. "What, you think we're gonna sleep in the damn car?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Just fuckin' drive, Chas."

They got into the car without another word, and Chas shoved the car back into gear and pulled out onto the road. This time, John stayed wide awake, occasionally glancing at Chas to make sure he hadn't started to 'drift off' again.

Chas was quite certain that wouldn't happen, considering he'd been wide awake the whole time- but he wasn't about to tell John that he'd almost caused a car crash because he'd been having strange, unsettling thoughts about his mentor's looks.

True to his word, John made Chas pull off on the first exit that had a sign for a motel. It was a run-down, one-floor place that no doubt had only cold water and was bug-ridden, but Chas was beginning to get tired and confused, so he could care less.

He waited by the cab as John checked in at the desk, and then the exorcist came back to the cab, grabbing his bag from the sidewalk.

"We're in room 14."

Chas blinked. "What? Hey, wait a second…we? As in…one room? You and me? In the same room? Are you sure?"

John chuckled, starting to walk and forcing Chas to stumble in his attempt to catch up.

"Quit your whining. There are two beds. What do you think I am, a fuckin' pedophile?"

Chas cringed. "I'm not a kid, you know."

"Was that a hint?"

"You know what I fuckin' meant, John…"

John smirked, unlocking the door and pushing it open. The room was small, the bathroom barely big enough to turn around in- but at least here the bathroom was _private_. For Chas, that was a luxury.

He dropped his bag on the nearest bed, and then collapsed down onto it with a sigh, ignoring the cloud of dust that erupted from the sheets when he hit.

"Get to sleep, kid. We leave when the sun comes up."

* * *

Chas had never had so much trouble falling asleep in his life.

He tossed and turned for a half hour, but the steady breathing from the other side of the room was keeping him awake, torturing his mind at the thought that John Constantine was sleeping ten feet away.

It was just hero worship, really. Not anything sexual. Or at least, that's what Chas told himself every moment that the thought came into his mind.

_You like girls, Chas, you know this. Not exorcists twice your age. Certainly not male exorcists twice your age. _

Of course, all the thoughts of this nature led to a completely unintended problem- and quite suddenly, Chas couldn't sleep for a whole different reason. In his apartment, it wouldn't have been a problem, far from it in fact. But with someone else sleeping in the same room…

Chas snuck a glance at John. The older man was facing away from him, his breathing slow and deep. Most definitely asleep.

_You'll never sleep if you don't deal with this. Besides, what could it hurt?_

With justification said and done with, Chas's hand slipped down inside his boxers, and he commenced dealing with his slight 'problem'.

It ended up not being quite as easy as he'd hoped.

He'd meant to make things fast, especially since it was such a difficult thing to keep himself quiet (normally he was pretty loud, since it really didn't matter in his apartment building), but it just wouldn't happen. Not that this wasn't normal for him- he always started out with the normal 'teenage boy fantasies'- busty blondes and slutty brunettes- but it never worked. Never had.

With a frustrated sigh (and taking no notice that the breathing of the person in the bed beside him had ceased to become sleep-breathing), he shifted his mind to a completely different 'angle', so to speak. His hand worked almost frantically, his breathing shortened, and he tried desperately to keep the light moans and gasps from escaping him.

Moments later his hips jerked, and with a groan that sounded suspiciously like a name that started with "j" and ended with "n", he climaxed hard.

He lay in the bed, breathing hard but trying to stifle it, and he listened for a moment to John's breathing. Slow and deep, just like it had been. He'd gotten away with it, thank God- he'd hate to have that embarrassment on his shoulders.

With a sigh, he rolled over and was almost immediately asleep.

Across the room, John didn't bother to fake asleep anymore. Now he was the one that couldn't sleep- after all, he'd just been pulled from sleep by his teenage apprentice moaning his name in the throes of orgasm.

Maybe this trip hadn't been such a good idea after all.

John sighed heavily, and then took a quick glance at the slumbering teen, his soft curls tousled on the pillow.

_Damn you, Chas, _he thought, his own hand slipping downward.


	3. Chapter 3

"Wake up, Chas."

"Don't wanna."

John pushed the boy, receiving only a grunt in return. "Come on, kid, sun's up. Let's go."

"Few more minutes."

"I've given you a few more minutes, to the tune of 45 of 'em. Now get up."

When he received no reply, John grabbed onto the blanket and sheets and yanked them off the bed. Chas curled up like a roly-poly bug, ducking his head and shivering.

"Jooooohn…"

"I'm leavin' without you, kid. You're walkin' home."

Well, that certainly had the desired effect. Chas was out of bed and scrambling to the bathroom on John's first step toward the door, and John only had time to smoke half a cigarette before the kid was ready to go.

"How far do you wanna make it today?" Chas asked, pulling on his jacket.

"Where are we right now?"

"Three hours from Vegas."

John took a drag off his cigarette, averting his gaze as Chas stretched and unintentionally showed a flash of smooth skin on his stomach.

"Let's try to make Denver tonight. Maybe we can cut this little joyride down to three days."

They headed out to the car, throwing their bags in and waiting a few moments for John to finish his cigarette.

"Hey John…"

"Yeah?"

"Our route goes really really close to the Grand Canyon, you know."

John quirked an eyebrow. "Only if you get us lost."

"I'm serious, John! It's one of the seven wonders of the natural world, you know."

"So is your mouth, evidently, cause it _never _stops running."

"Joooohn…"

John sighed as Chas's whining tugged at him. "Chas, if we take a side trip, we'll be lucky if we make it to Salt Lake City before dark. We'll lose a day on the trip."

"But I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, John! We won't stay long, I swear. I just wanna get outta the car and take a look."

"No, Chas."

"Please?"

"_No._"

"Pretty please?"

"NO, Chas!"

-------- 12 hours later ------

Chas pulled up into a parking space, and then he practically leapt out of the car. John sat there and fumed for a few moments before following suit, get out and lighting up a cigarette.

"I can't believe you talked me into driving all the way out here to see a big hole in the ground," he muttered to Chas as they walked.

"Hey, it's like a two billion year old hole in the ground. Have some respect."

"I can't believe you got lost _twice_ getting here."

"I was trying to practice my Spanish by following the Spanish road signs! I had good intentions!"

"Because 'Peach Tree Road' in Spanish is so damn similar to 'Grand Canyon This Way'."

"Hey, I didn't say my Spanish was perfect, I just said…"

At that moment, Chas trailed off. They'd just walked past the row of buildings, and in front of them was the 'big hole in the ground'.

"Oh my God…" Chas whispered, and John blinked in surprise. He'd never seen the kid was awestruck, in all this time with the kid as a driver.

Chas took off at a sprint, and John chuckled and followed him at a walk. Chas skidded to a stop ten feet from the edge, the stiff breeze tousling his curls and the setting sun highlighting his features.

"Isn't it amazing, John?"

John's eyes didn't move from his young apprentice. "Sure is."

Chas stepped forward to the edge, and John felt his stomach do a flip. He stepped forward, reached out, and grabbed Chas's shoulder, and Chas looked over his shoulder at him.

The wind was perfect, flipping his curls toward his face. The light was perfect, making Chas's skin glow and his eyes reflect intense color. And placed in front of that amazing backdrop, that intense void, right on the edge…John was taken aback.

"John, I won't fall," Chas said, smiling. John was about to argue, but then he forced himself to let go.

Chas took the remaining few steps to the edge, looked down, and then sat down and let his legs dangle into the Grand Canyon. John stared after him for a moment, debated, and then took a seat beside him.

There was at least a 500 foot drop to the nearest ledge below them, and that seemed to fascinate Chas. When he wasn't looking at the sheer drop-off, he was arching his neck to try and see the river down at the bottom of the canyon, or just taking in large breaths of the fresh air.

"Can you believe this place?" He said, his voice distant, distracted.

"It's interesting, kid," John said with a chuckle.

"I've always wanted to come here. I mean, when I was little I saw an ad for cigarettes in a magazine, and this was in the background. But I never thought…"

He trailed off again, and sighed heavily. John looked out at the canyon, and then back at Chas. The kid was so enthralled, so entranced that he couldn't bear to let that go, not yet.

"I'll tell you what…you stay put, and I'll go reserve a room here for the night. I'll come back and get you."

Chas looked over at John, his eyes wide. "Really?" He asked with child-like enthusiasm.

John snickered. "Chas, even if we started off tonight, we would hardly make it to the Utah border, and that's so desolate we'd be lucky to find a roach motel. At least here we'll have hot water and a nice view."

John got up and headed to the nearest hotel, a huge lodge with a very old west feel to it. It was like a huge hunting lodge in the inside, and he hesitantly walked up to the desk.

"Welcome to the El Tovar Hotel, may I help you?" The girl at the desk said, looking John up and down with amusement. Suits were obviously out of place here.

"Yeah…I know this is short notice, but I'd like a room just for tonight. Two double beds."

The girl bit her lip. "I'm pretty sure we're full up, sir. It is the high season for tourists. But I'll take a look," she said, tapping away on the computer keyboard. John waiting patiently as she studied the screen, scrolling down.

"Oh, you're in luck! One of our guests left earlier, due to sickness. But he was in the master suite."

"Expensive?"

"I'm afraid that's an understatement, sir."

John was about to say no, but then he thought of where Chas was used to living. One night in a very expensive room would far from hurt his wallet, after the recent boom of expensive relics he'd come across and sold.

"Sure, sure. I'll take it."

She typed a little more. "It's a one bed suite, sir, a king sized. Is that okay?"

"Can you bring up a roll-away bed?"

"I think they're all taken, sir, but I'll see what I can do."

"You do that. Thanks."

John paid for the room, got the key, and quickly walked back out to where Chas was still sitting transfixed on the edge of the canyon. He walked out and gently nudged Chas with his foot, and the boy smiled.

"You get a room?"

"Sure did. Come on, let's get the bags. You can come back out here once we've got the stuff in the room."

_This is gonna be one helluva long night if they can't get that extra bed, _John thought, watching Chas excitedly start back toward the car.


	4. Chapter 4

When they walked in the room, Chas looked like he'd just walked into a palace.

The suite was worth every penny. A fireplace, a bedroom with the biggest bed John had ever seen, a sitting room, a hot tub, shower, and a balcony overlooking the canyon.

Chas dropped his bag by the door, walking into the room with an awestruck expression. John chuckled as Chas sped up to a jog across the room, opening the door to the balcony and walking outside.

John started to follow, but then someone tapped on the open door behind him. It was the young woman from the front desk.

"Mr. Constantine? Are the accommodations alright?"

John shot another glance at Chas. "Yeah, they're perfect. How's that rollaway bed coming?"

The girl looked a bit sheepish. "Well, sir, that's the thing. We had a rollaway bed, and I was having Jeremy bring it up here, but some teenage brunette girl went crazy on him. Jumped out of a closet, hit him over the head, and then stole the rollaway bed. She was screaming something about journals and flames."

John blinked. And blinked again.

"Right. The bed was _stolen_?"

"Just like I said, sir. Will you be alright without it?"

John sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Wonderful. Will you be needing anything else?"

John glanced at Chas again. "How about the biggest hot fudge sundae your kitchen can cook up? Oh, and the key to the minibar."

"Right away, sir."

The girl left just as Chas walked back in off the balcony.

"The view is _amazing_, John, you really should…" Chas paused and frowned. "Why's there only one bed in here?"

John shifted uncomfortably. "Well…we were supposed to have a rollaway bed, but that fell through. So…"

Chas smiled and shrugged, though there was the slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks. "That's okay. I mean, it's just one night, right?"

"Right," John said, sitting down and lighting up a cigarette. "Just one night."

* * *

It had only been an hour, and the 'one night' already seemed infinitely long.

As soon as Chas finished his ice cream (which he'd been surprised to see in the first place), he headed straight for the shower. The sound of the water falling was torture to John, since it provoked his imagination, trying to see in his mind how the water would trail down Chas's body, dripping off his hair, coursing down lean muscles…

_This wasn't a good idea. This is the worst torture I could've had on this whole damn trip._

At that moment Chas walked out of the bathroom, a towel hanging loosely around his slim waist.

_Scratch that. NOW it's the worst torture I could've had on this whole damn trip._

"Put on some clothes, kid," he muttered, trying to hide the discomfort that sight caused him.

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

Chas chuckled. "Alright, alright, just gotta get my boxers…"

_He's just gonna sleep in boxers?...Oh shit._

John couldn't help but stare as Chas bent over to dig in his bag. He swallowed thickly, and took another swig from the whiskey he'd gotten from the mini-bar, averting his gaze just as Chas stood up and turned around.

"What time are we getting started tomorrow?" Chas asked, and John shrugged.

"Seven."

"Eight?"

"Seven-thirty."

"Deal."

Chas got changed into his boxers and headed out onto the balcony again- he simply couldn't get enough of that view. John, meanwhile, didn't understand what was so fascinating about a 2 billion year old drainage ditch.

He stood up and took off his suit jacket and tie, rolling up his sleeves and unbuttoning the top few buttons on his shirt before heading outside to join Chas.

"All this from one river," Chas mused quietly, and John exhaled smoke heavily into the night air.

"It happens."

Chas grinned and looked up at John, eyes sparkling. "Only you would be able to say a natural wonder 'just happens', John."

Maybe it was the whiskey. Maybe it was the cheesy atmosphere. Or maybe it was just John's utter lack of willpower. Either way, the next thing he knew he'd cupped Chas's face in his hands, and their lips were intensely pressed together. The boy's mouth still tasted like hot fudge, and John deepened the kiss, the taste even more intoxicating when mingled with a taste that was unique to Chas.

John didn't want Chas asking questions, because he had no answers for him. The only logical way to make this happen was to keep Chas's mouth busy with other things. This turned out to be easier than he'd previously thought.

He didn't remember when they got to the bed- but he was glad for the bed's size, because they were all over it. Chas surprised John with his eagerness, his readily roaming hands and tongue, exploring to find John's every sensitive spot.

And John didn't hesitate to return the favor. There were a few times when Chas was moaning so loud that he was afraid the neighbors would complain. It was a rare experience for John to be with someone who was so vocal, so expressive. The gentlest touch in the right place would set off a chain reaction- Chas would let out a moan, his back would arch, his toes would curl, and he would squirm and plead with John to 'do that again' or 'harder'.

John couldn't remember the last time he lay in bed falling asleep and was satisfied without intercourse. He'd always considered that a requirement, and if the foreplay was good it was a perk.

It had been nothing but foreplay for three hours and he was utterly satisfied.

He looked down at the curly-haired boy, who was fast asleep with his head on John's chest. He moved his hand up to stroke Chas's soft hair, and the boy purred and shifted before falling back into a deep sleep.

John smiled, closing his eyes and relaxing. And before he fell asleep, he had one final realization.

_Maybe an extended vacation to Nature's biggest drainage ditch is a pretty damn good idea._


End file.
